Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 The city of Xian was much smaller than Beijing, but Dan could hardly tell the difference out the window of the G5. There was no towering skyline like the one in China's capital, but the sprawl of buildings seemed infinite, the red of brake lights clogging every inch of the grid of roadways. Traffic. Pollution, too, he thought as the plane descended through a thick layer of brownish haze. "Oh, no—" They weren't even on the runway, and Jonah's father was already immersed in his BlackBerry. "Remember those 'Live Large with the Wiz Generation' posters? Well, guess how that translates into Chinese—'Jonah Wizard Makes Your Ancestors Fat.'" Dan brayed a laugh in his face. "Can you save me one? It'll go great in my collection!"

Broderick was not amused. "In that case, why don't you take the conference call from the record company?" "It's all good, Pops." Jonah yawned as the jet touched down. "You know the drill. I take some lucky fan out to dinner; we post the whole thing on YouTube; everybody forgets about a few posters." "They printed over six hundred thousand," his father reminded him, tight-lipped. "Dinner and a movie," Jonah amended. "Better yet, clubbing in Xian. We'll give MTV Asia an exclusive. It'll be epic, yo! Just as soon as we're done with these terracotta homeys," he added with a wink at Dan. Of all the managers, publicists, and bodyguards of the Wizard entourage, and even Jonah's own father, the star had chosen Dan to accompany him on this mission to learn the secret of the terracotta army. Not that Dan cared about the Clue hunt anymore. Another thing about Xian— they had real

limos here. A silver stretch was waiting at the airport to take them to their hotel, the Bell Tower, where Jonah had reserved the entire top floor. Jonah's father was on the phone with the hotel's nightclub to hire the headline act to perform for them in their suite— a little dinner entertainment. Dan glanced at his watch. Seven-thirty. "How late does this terracotta place stay open?" Jonah flashed his rock star grin. "It closed two hours ago. We can't go yet. It isn't dark enough." Dan's voice dropped. "I get it. We have to check it out when there's no one around." "That's how I know we're family," Jonah approved. "Cahills think alike, yo. Got a good feeling about us working together. We make a fly team." If this were Amy, Dan reflected mournfully, she'd be telling him how stupid he was, calling him dweeb while she went to some library to check out six hundred books on terracotta warriors. His mood darkened abruptly. Then she'd accuse

their poor parents of deserving their fate. How could she even think that about Mom and Dad? He patted his pocket where the picture from Bodhidharma's cave lay hidden. "You know, Jonah," he ventured, "it's been— uh— two days, four hours, twenty-one minutes—" "Since you last saw your sis," Jonah finished sympathetically. "Not that I'm keeping track," Dan added quickly. "Must be hard," the star agreed. "I've got to tell you, cuz, I'm amazed we haven't come up with her yet. By now— it's almost like she doesn't want to be found." Dan recoiled as if he had just been slapped. His distress was interrupted by a knock at the door. The entertainment had arrived. Dan had little appetite at first. He sat at the table, viciously dismantling dumplings with his chopsticks, eating next to nothing as he mulled over the devastating notion that Amy might have written him off. Was that possible? She called him annoying often enough. Yet he said the same

about her, and he would have given anything to be reunited with his sister. The show turned out to be Chinese acrobats who executed an unbelievable climbing-and-tumbling routine. It was off the chain— Jonah's words. Even Dan began to climb out of his funk, especially for the grand finale— a dragon dance performed upside down while hanging from the ceiling. Jonah's father invited a few local entertainment reporters to join the fun, so Jonah was sure to get good press in Xian— as if Jonah got bad press anywhere. The man of the hour was at his schmoozing best, laughing and joking with the media. No way could anybody tell that, as soon as this was over, he was off to burglarize the most important archaeological site in Asia. Yet when no one was looking, Dan couldn't help but notice a glazed expression on the famous face. Funny— I think the rock star lifestyle is amazing, but it has to be brutal twenty-four/seven. For Jonah, this was the normal

routine. It was probably exhausting to be at fever pitch, day after day, week after week. It was past midnight by the time the acrobats had gone home and the reporters had finished their interviews. Dan was rummaging through the minibar when the sound of distant music reached him. Not Jonah's music— in fact, the melody was classical. To Dan's astonishment, he recognized the piece. It was by Mozart, perhaps the greatest of Jonah's Janus relatives. He followed the sound to the suite's smallest bedroom and peered inside. Broderick Wizard perched on the edge of the bed, an acoustic guitar in his arms, his fingers a blur over the nylon strings. It was obvious— even to Dan, who knew nothing about music— that Jonah's father was playing with great skill. "You're awesome." Broderick looked up in surprise. "Oh— it's you." He set the guitar down on the comforter, picked up his BlackBerry, and began selfconsciously scrolling through e-mail. "Does Jonah know how good you are?" Dan